Manna, The Bread Of Life: Parashat BeShalach Reflections

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The deeds of the patriarchs were so holy, and the Shekinah so dwelt in their midst, that the angels ate of their food. Of this Scripture says, ‘go eat of my food’ (Proverbs 9.5) [for the manna is called ‘bread from heaven’]. There is [also] ‘bread from the earth’ – this refers to the redemptive work of the righteous have to do each day. That bread rises upward. And then there is the bread that comes down to them from heaven…

Sefat Emet: Parashat Be-Shalach. pg. 103

And יהוה said to Moshe, ‘see, I am raining bread from the heavens for you. And the people shall go out and gather a day‘s portion every day, in order to prove them, whether they walk in My Torah or not.

Exodus 16.4

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In the Garden of Eden, all that was needed for sustaining life was provided to Adam and his wife Chawwah by their heavenly Father יהוה. In fact, it is understood that prior to their beguilement, great efforts and strenuous labor was not required for the man and woman to secure their sustenance. As their diet consisted largely of plants, fruits and grains, it is understood that they were eating the bread of life, as this food was provided to them by the hand of the Most High. After Adam ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in open defiance to the word of Elohim, however, he was then told that

By the sweat of your face you are to eat bread until you return to the ground, for out if it you were taken. For dust you are, and to dust you return.

Genesis 3.19

The Hebrew word for bread is לֶחֶם (lechem) has as its meaning, bread, food, loaves, victuals, or, more expressly, the mature formation of the grain of life. Even deeper, the word implies the idea of instructions or teachings that arise within man unto fullness. What’s more, the concept of bread is further compounded by it’s root word, לָחַם (lacham), which means to fight and make war, and carries the idea that all of the concepts belonging to the Father reach maturation for the utilization of man does not occur without the proper direction of internal conflict unto victory through confrontation of the lower self. This is what is meant when יהוה told Adam that it was to be by the sweat of his brow that he would eat the bread.

That we too are required to undergo some sort of internal conflict for refinement in order to have access to the heavenly bread is clearly demonstrated by the historical example of Yisrael undergoing their years of affliction while afflicted in Mitazrayim. The process of conflict that Yisrael endured served as proving grounds in regards to their loyalty to the covenant that was made with their ancestors Noah, Abraham, Yitzchak and Yisrael. This proving process is something that has been continual in the life of the household of faith from the very genesis of our appearance to our present; even up unto the Revelation of the King Messiah. This is the result of the transgression committed by Adam in the garden as we previously mentioned. Man must now demonstrate that he merits the favor of יהוה consequent to the event that we have descended into the consciousness of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil as opposed to that of the consciousness of the Tree of Life. When our faithfulness has proved meritorious in the eyes of יהוה, then we will receive the rewards that have been set aside for us by our Father and our King.

As we have previously read, the newly born nation was led by Moshe, as they endured ten plagues unscathed and, as we are encountering their sojourn now, have entered the wilderness where their continued cries have again reached the ears of יהוה. Now that they have been led out of Mitzrayim and have been relieved of their burdens and oppression, they must now learn to become self-sustaining and self-determined, providing their daily bread, as well as their own shelter and carve out their destiny by conquest. As they soon discovered, the rigors of being a self-sustaining and self-determined people challenged them as they began to complain about their lack of food. In this regards the Torah records these words,

And all the congregation of the children of Yisra’ĕl grumbled against Mosheh and Aharon in the wilderness. And the children of Yisra’ĕl said to them, ‘If only we had died by the hand of יהוה in the land of Mitsrayim, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to satisfaction! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to put all this assembly to death with hunger.’

Exodus 16.2-3

Amazingly, in spite of the fact that Yisrael had just experienced a great deliverance with magnificent and miraculous displays, their collective faith was found lacking as their complaints demonstrated their beleaguered state of consciousness. What is interesting to note is that the source of the initial cause of stumbling for Adam, the progenitor of Yisrael, would turn out be the same initial cause of rebellion for Yisrael in the wilderness; food.

Conversely, the symbolism of food as spiritual sustenance is also implied in this week’s portion with the introduction of manna. Defined by Strong’s Concordance as a whatness, this substance called manna is what fed Yisrael in the desert for the forty years of their sojourning from Mitzrayim to the Promised Land. With both interrogative and exclamatory connotations, the root of the word manna (מָה/what) implies that this substance came to the Yisraelites as an absolute surprise. It is written that when they encountered it, they exclaimed ‘what is it?’ It was the response of Moshe, however, that provided an insight into the mystery of this heavenly substance. Upon their inquiry into the manna, Moshe replies,

It is the bread which יהוה has given you to eat. This is the word which יהוה has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, an omer for each being, according to the number of beings. Let every man take for those who are in his tent.’

The key to this passage is found in the latter part of verse which informs us that this bread which the children of Yisrael were unable to identify was to be taken in their tents according to the number of persons within it. While on the surface, this appears to be addressing what they are to physically undertake in order to satisfy their hunger, there lies much to this passage beneath the surface. When taking into account that the word for bread in Hebrew also implies the impartation of instruction, we discover that what is further implied from this passage is that we must internalize and bind to the understanding which gathers (עֹמֶר) within our skull (לַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת) what the Father has provided us to partake (אָכְלוֹ) in the revealed form of His hidden manna (מִמֶּנּוּ) so that he might inscribe the enumerated will of the Most High (מִסְפַּר) within our souls (נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם) to become champions (אִישׁ) when we bring the heavenly manna into our spiritual tents (בְּאָהֳלוֹ).

Most prophetically, we encounter this same teaching which is replete with the inner sod meaning so as delivered by the Master Mashiyach Yahoshua ben Yoseph. To contextualize what the substance of the parallel teaching contains, a miracle was performed by Yahoshua who just prior to speaking with the people fed a multitude with just five loaves and two fish. Desiring to be further physically fed by Yahoshua the crowds went to seek him out. The rest of this matter we can read from the sixth chapter of John where the witness records these most powerful words,

On the next day, the crowd that was standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there except that one into which His taught ones had entered, and that יהושע had not entered the boat with His taught ones, but His taught ones went away alone – but other boats came from Kinnereth, near the place where they ate bread after the Master had given thanks – therefore when the crowd saw that יהושע was not there, nor His taught ones, they themselves also entered into the boats and came to Kephar Naḥum, seeking יהושע. And having found Him on the other side of the sea, they asked Him, ‘Rabbi, when did You come here?’ יהושע answered them and said, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were satisfied. Do not labour for the food that is perishing, but for the food that is remaining to everlasting life, which the Son of Aḏam shall give you, for the Father, Elohim, has set His seal on Him.’ So they said to Him, ‘What should we do to work the works of Elohim?’ יהושע answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of Elohim, that you believe in Him whom He sent.’

John 6.22-29

This monumental statement was made to provide those with insight into the fulfillment of the work that was now required to eat of the bread of life of which Adam was told that he was to partake of with a demonstrated effort. For many, the acceptance of Yahoshua ben Yoseph as Mashiyach is indeed a great stretch of effort in that they are unable to receive the revelation of the instrument of יהוה’s propitiation of sin. And though many merely proclaim that the only requirement for this atonement to take place is to profess the Messiahship of Yahoshua, what is the principle truly entails is that of becoming as the Son of Elohim through the partaking of his teachings. As Moshe’s word compared to the dew of the heavens giving life to the grass of the field, Yahoshua’s words served as the bread of life which spiritually nourished souls who were deprived of the Torah nutrients, and transformed them back into the image and likenessin which they were created.

Therefore יהושע said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, Mosheh did not give you the bread out of the heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread out of the heaven. For the bread of Elohim is He who comes down out of the heaven and gives life to the world.’ So they said to Him, ‘Master, give us this bread always.’ And יהושע said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall not get hungry at all, and he who believes in Me shall not get thirsty at all. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and still do not believe. All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I shall by no means cast out. Because I have come down out of the heaven, not to do My own desire, but the desire of Him who sent Me. This is the desire of the Father who sent Me, that all He has given Me I should not lose of it, but should raise it in the last day.’

John 6.32-39

That Yahoshua is the bread of life sent by the Father from Heaven to Earth is the greatest work to accept and carry out being that it is too our responsibility to become the Word made flesh. For it is through the body of His teachings from which we are to partake that will provide us with the spiritual nourishment in order for us to undergo the transformation from corruption to incorruption, from mortal to immortal. As this week’s parashat provides us with the introduction to the manna, of which the people asked with shock, WHAT IS IT? so too are souls perplexed when presented with the reality of Yahoshua as Mashiyach, as they ask WHAT? This is the secret of the manna and the bread of life which יהוה has given humanity for the sake of their salvation.

‘Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me possesses everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of the heaven, so that anyone might eat of it, and not die. I am the living bread which came down out of the heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever. And indeed, the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.’ The Yehuḏim, therefore, were striving with one another, saying, ‘How is this One able to give us His flesh to eat?’ יהושע therefore said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Aḏam and drink His blood, you possess no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood possesses everlasting life, and I shall raise him up in the last day. For My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood stays in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me shall live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of the heaven, not as your fathers ate the manna and died. He who eats this bread shall live forever.’